In all these cases we see the supreme dominating power of insects on the structure of flowers, especially of those which have irregular corollas. Flowers which are fertilised by the wind must of course be excepted; but I do not know of a single instance of an irregular flower which is thus fertilised.
Another point deserves notice. In each of the three forms two sets of stamens correspond in length with the pistils in the other two forms. When bees suck the flowers, the anthers of the longest stamens, bearing the green pollen, are rubbed against the abdomen and the inner sides of the hind legs, as is likewise the stigma of the long-styled form. The anthers of the mid-length stamens and the stigma of the mid-styled form are rubbed against the under side of the thorax and between the front pair of legs. And, lastly, the anthers of the shortest stamens and the stigma of the short-styled form are rubbed against the proboscis and chin: for the bees in sucking the flowers insert only the front part of their heads into the flower. On catching bees, I observed much green pollen on the inner sides of the hind legs and on the abdomen, and much yellow pollen on the under side of the thorax. There was also pollen on the chin, and, it may be presumed, on the proboscis, but this was difficult to observe. I had, however, independent proof that pollen is carried on the proboscis; for a small branch of a protected short-styled plant (which produced spontaneously only two capsules) was accidentally left during several days pressing against the net, and bees were seen inserting their proboscides through the meshes, and in consequence numerous capsules were formed on this one small branch. From these several facts it follows that insects will generally carry the pollen of each form from the stamens to the pistil of corresponding length; and we shall presently see the importance of this adaptation. It must not, however, be supposed that the bees do not get more or less dusted all over with the several kinds of pollen; for this could be seen to occur with the green pollen from the longest stamens. Moreover a case will presently be given of a long-styled plant producing an abundance of capsules, though growing quite by itself, and the flowers must have been fertilised by their own kinds of pollen; but these capsules contained a very poor average of seed. Hence insects, and chiefly bees, act both as general carriers of pollen, and as special carriers of the right sort.
Wirtgen remarks on the variability of this plant in the branching of the stem, in the length of the bracteae, size of the petals, and in several other characters. (4/4. 'Verhand. des naturhist. Vereins fur Pr. Rheinl.' 5 Jahrgang 1848 pages 11, 13.) The plants which grew in my garden had their leaves, which differed much in shape, arranged oppositely, alternately, or in whorls of three. In this latter case the stems were hexagonal; those of the other plants being quadrangular. But we are concerned chiefly, with the reproductive organs: the upward bending of the pistil is variable, and especially in the short-styled form, in which it is sometimes straight, sometimes slightly curved, but generally bent at right angles. The stigma of the long-styled pistil frequently has longer papillae or is rougher than that of the mid-styled, and the latter than that of the short-styled; but this character, though fixed and uniform in the two forms of Primula veris, etc., is here variable, for I have seen mid- styled stigmas rougher than those of the long-styled. (4/5. The plants which I observed grew in my garden, and probably varied rather more than those growing in a state of nature. H. Muller has described the stigmas of all three forms with great care, and he appears to have found the stigmatic papillae differing constantly in length and structure in the three forms, being longest in the long-styled form.) The degree to which the longest and mid-length stamens are graduated in length and have their ends upturned is variable; sometimes all are equally long.